Manuel de Lapeña y Ruiz del Sotillo[note 1] (11 April 1762 – 14 October 1820) was a Spanish Army officer.

[3] The full-length portrait of Lapeña, painted in 1799 by Goya, was commissioned by the Duchess of Osuna for the palace at her recreational property, La Alameda, Madrid.

[2] At the start of the War of the Pyrenees, Lapeña joined the Army of Rosellón as aide-de-camp to the Duke of Osuna, seeing action at Mas Deu, at Perpignan, at Truillas and at Boulou.

[5] In 1806 Lapeña was given command of the 2nd Battalion of the Guardias Españolas and, in 1807 he was appointed interim captain general of Andalusia and governor of Cádiz while the Marquis del Socorro was invading Portugal as part of Spain's agreement with France.

[7][note 5] The 4th Division also had a 3,000-strong flying brigade, under Cruz-Murgeon, who was given the task harassing Dupont's northern flank and cutting French communications with Bailén and La Carolina.

Rather than march to support the rest of the Spanish army, Lapeña limited his activities to small-scale skirmishes with the few French troops close by.

Having lost 200 men in these skirmishes, and witnessing the defeat of the rest of the Army of the Centre, Lapeña finally retreated towards Borja, bringing the battle to a close.

[2] In January 1809 he was given command of the 4,000-strong[12] Reserve of Cartaojal's Army of La Mancha, and following its defeat at Ciudad Real covered the retreat to Despeñaperros.

[3] In January 1811, a reduction of the French forces besieging Cádiz led to the British and Spanish allies garrisoning the city to launch an expedition in an attempt to raise the siege.